Wide bearing wedge lock

ABSTRACT

A basketball bankboard-and-goal assembly including a main unit suspended to swing in a vertical plane about an overhead axis and a brace unit suspended to swing about a parallel axis, the distal end of the brace unit having a sliding connection with a guideway at the lower part of the main unit and the two units having parts which wedge together when the main unit is strictly vertical. The wedging part on the brace unit is infinitely adjustable longitudinally of the brace unit.

United States Patent [191 Duganich 1 1 Apr. 29, 1975 WIDE BEARING WEDGELOCK [76] Inventor: Joseph W. Duganich, P.O. Box

19024, Indianapolis, Ind. 46219 [22] Filed: Feb. 15, 1973 [21] Appl.No.: 332,583

[52] U.S. Cl 248/324; 273/15 [51] Int. Cl... A63b 67/00; A63b 71/04;B66f 11/00 [58] Field of Search 248/324, 325, 326, 439;273/1.5;108/120,127,160, 117

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 628,712 7/1899 Hoshour108/120 3,329,427 7/1967 Beurson 248/326 X 3,452,984 7/1969 Miller eta1. 273/15 R 3,467,377 9/1969 Miller et a1. 273/15 R 3,614,099 10/1971Sarno 248/326 X D176,335 12/1955 Hornung et al. 273/15 R FOREIGN PATENTSOR APPLICATIONS 595,598 9/1959 Italy 108/125 Primary Examiner-.1.Franklin Foss Attorney, Agent, or FirmHood & Coffey [57] ABSTRACT Abasketball bankboard-and-goal assembly including a main unit suspendedto swing in a vertical plane about an overhead axis and a brace unitsuspended to swing about a parallel axis, the distal end of the braceunit having a sliding connection with a guideway at the lower part ofthe main unit and the two units having parts which wedge together whenthe main unit is strictly vertical. The wedging part on the brace unitis infinitely adjustable longitudinally of the brace unit.

6 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures WIDE BEARING WEDGE LOCK The presentinvention relates to a wide bearing wedge lock which finds its primaryutility in the suspension for, for instance, a basketball goal andbankboard assembly. The primary object of the invention is to provide asystem wherein a suspended assembly will be held firmly against minordislodgement when it is in its dependent, or use, position. A furtherobject of the invention is to provide a system of the character described in which the bankboard will lie strictly in a vertical planewhen the system is in use position.

Still further objects of the invention will appear as the descriptionproceeds.

To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this inventionmay be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings,attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings areillustrative only, and that change may be made in the specificconstruction illustrated and described, so long as the scope of theappended claims is not violated.

In the drawings:

FIG. I is an isometric view of an embodiment of my invention with theparts in use position;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary side elevation of the wedging parts;

FIG. 3 is a side elevation showing the assembly, in solid lines, in itsstorage position and, in dotted lines, in its use position; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 44 of FIG. 2.

In many arenas which are sometimes used as basketball courts, it hasbecome common to suspend bankboard-and-basket assemblies from overheadstructural units so that such an assembly may be swung in a verticalplane between an elevated, storage position and a dependent, useposition. Numerous expedients for suspending, moving and holding suchassemblies have been used but, so far as I am advised, all of suchexpedients have heretofore been subject to one or more deficiencies.

For instance, in most of such devices known to me, gravity alone isrelied upon to hold the bankboard in a strictly vertical plane andshocks to which the assembly is subjected during play may move theassembly, in one direction or the other, enough to shift the bankboardsurface two or three degrees out of strict verticality. Since thebankboard is used, on many shots, to cause the ball to carom into thebasket, such dislodgement may, and frequently does, cause an otherwiseperfect shot to miss the goal.

According to the present invention, a brace unit is so associated withthe main unit of the suspension system that, when the main unit reachesprecise verticality, a wedging situation is created so that rearwardmovement of the main unit is affirmatively prevented and forwardmovement thereof is strongly resisted.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that l haveillustrated a main unit pivotally suspended from overhead structuralmembers 11 and 12 to swing in a vertical plane. The stem 13 of the unit10 carries a bankboard 14 and a goal or basket 15.

A brace unit, indicated generally by the reference numeral 16, issimilarly suspended from the members 11 and 12 to swing about an axiswhich is parallel with the pivotal axis of the main unit 10, andincludes a stem 17.

Suitably secured to the stem 13 is a rail 18 paralleling, but spacedrearwardly from, the stem 13 and acting as a guideway for the distal endof the stem 17.

Adjacent its distal end, the stem 17 carries a bifurcated member 19comprising spaced, parallel legs 20 and 21. Each of said legs may betubular, though preferably of rectangular cross section, and is closedat its lower end by a base member 22. Each base member 22 is perforatedto receive a screw 23 and each screw 23 carries, at its distal end, ahead 24 centrally perforated to provide a bearing for a spindle 25. Aroller 26 is supported upon the two spindles 25 and has a transverseextent which is approximately equal to the width of the stem 13.

Nuts 27 and 28 are threaded upon each screw respectively above and belowthe base 22, whereby each screw 23 may be substantially infinitelyadjusted longitudinally of its leg 20 or 21. As is clearly shown, theroller 26 is confined in the guideway between the stem 13 and the rail18.

A bracket 29 is adjustably secured to the stem 13 at its lower region byclamping means 30; and said bracket is formed to provide a surface 31which is inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the rearward surface 32of the stem 13. The surface 31 may be a single surface having a widthsubstantially equal to the width of the face 32, or it may be formed, asshown in FIG. 4, by two laterally-spaced flanges. l presently believethat the optimum angle included between the surface 32 and the surface31 is 45. At any rate, the angle included between those surfaces must bea wedging angle so that, when the roller 26 is pressed into placebetween the surfaces 31 and 32, a wedging action, significantlyresisting extraction of the roller from between the inclined surfaces,will arise.

Conventional means for moving the unit 10 is illustrated. A pulley 33 istethered to the forward face of the stem 13 near the upper end thereofand an elastic cable 34 is threaded through said pulley and secured toan anchorage 35 near the lower end of the stem. A pulley 36 is securedto the free end of the elastic cable 34 and a halyard 37 is secured tothe anchorage 35, threaded through the pulley 36 and extended to a winch(not shown) at a suitably distant point. It will be seen that, whentension is applied to the halyard 37, the elastic cable 34 will stretchto permit the pulley 36 to move into a position in which a relativelystraight pull can be applied to the lower portion of the stem 13; but asthe assembly nears the storage position of FIG. 3, the cable 34 willcontract and the parts will assume substantially the position of FIG. 3.

Preferably, the bracket 29 will include clamp means 38 for supportingthe lower end of the rail 18.

It will now be perceived that, as the unit 10 is lowered from the solidline position to the broken line position of FIG. 3, the roller 26 willenter between the surfaces 31 and 32 to become wedged therein, wherebyit will resist any tendency of the unit 10 to move in either directionfrom a position of strict verticality. If, under continued usage, thatwedged condition should change, adjustment of the nuts 27 and 28 willreturn the front surface of the bankboard 14 into a strictly verticalplane.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described, a main unit suspended to swingabout a substantially horizontal axis near its upper end, between asubstantially vertical dependent position and a substantially horizontalraised position, a brace unit suspended from an axis parallel with saidsubstantially horizontal axis and spaced rearwardly therefrom, means onsaid main unit defining a longitudinal guideway, means at the distal endof said brace unit engaged with and guided by said guideway, a bracketcarried by said main unit near the distal end of said guideway andhaving a generally upwardly presented surface rearwardly related to saidmain unit at a permanent acute angle for wedgedly receiving the externalsurface of said means at the distal end of said brace unit when saidmain unit is truly vertical, and a device carried at the forward part ofsaid main unit.

2. The device of claim 1 including hoist means operatively connected tosaid main unit.

3. The device of claim 2 in which said hoist means includes a flexiblestrand leading forwardly from said main unit.

4. The device of claim 1 in which said means at the distal end of saidbrace unit is adjustable longitudinally of said brace unit.

5. The device of claim 1 in which said acute angle is aproximately 45.

6. The device of claim 1 in which said means at the distal end of saidbrace unit is a roller having an axial length at least equal to thetransverse width of said inclined surface and a diameter less than thehorizontal distance between said rearward surface of said main unit andthe distal end of said inclined surface.

1. In a device of the class described, a main unit suspended to swingabout a substantially horizontal axis near its upper end, between asubstantially vertical dependent position and a substantially horizontalraised position, a brace unit suspended from an axis parallel with saidsubstantially horizontal axis and spaced rearwardly therefrom, means onsaid main uniT defining a longitudinal guideway, means at the distal endof said brace unit engaged with and guided by said guideway, a bracketcarried by said main unit near the distal end of said guideway andhaving a generally upwardly presented surface rearwardly related to saidmain unit at a permanent acute angle for wedgedly receiving the externalsurface of said means at the distal end of said brace unit when saidmain unit is truly vertical, and a device carried at the forward part ofsaid main unit.
 2. The device of claim 1 including hoist meansoperatively connected to said main unit.
 3. The device of claim 2 inwhich said hoist means includes a flexible strand leading forwardly fromsaid main unit.
 4. The device of claim 1 in which said means at thedistal end of said brace unit is adjustable longitudinally of said braceunit.
 5. The device of claim 1 in which said acute angle is aproximately45*.
 6. The device of claim 1 in which said means at the distal end ofsaid brace unit is a roller having an axial length at least equal to thetransverse width of said inclined surface and a diameter less than thehorizontal distance between said rearward surface of said main unit andthe distal end of said inclined surface.